This paper presents new insights into necessary conditions for groups to arrive at cognitive equilibrium in relation to complex issues. Three "Laws" relating to conduct and understanding of group work are postulated: The Law of Inherent Conflict, the Law of Structural Underconceptualization and the Law of Uncorrelated Extremes. Presented at the 1991 Annual Meeting of the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in the Alexandria room of the Washington Sheraton Hotel, 2;30 p.m. 19 February 1991. Published first as a journal article in 1991, and 2 years later as Chapter 5 of Conflict Resolution Theory and Practice, edited by Dennis J.D. Sandole and Hugo van der Merwe, Manchester University Press, 1993. The 1993 version is essentially the same as the 1991 journal article.